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Ejc Supplements. 01/2010; 8(3):172-173.
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ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 19-25-nucleotides regulatory non-protein-coding RNA molecules that regulate the expressions of a wide variety of genes, including some involved in cancer development. In this study, we investigated the possible role of miR-143 in colorectal cancer (CRC).
Expression levels of human mature miRNAs were examined using real-time PCR-based expression arrays on paired colorectal carcinomas and adjacent non-cancerous colonic tissues. The downregulation of miR-143 was further evaluated in colon cancer cell lines and in paired CRC and adjacent non-cancerous colonic tissues by qRT-PCR. Potential targets of miR-143 were defined. The functional effect of miR-143 and its targets was investigated in human colon cancer cell lines to confirm miRNA-target association.
Both real-time PCR-based expression arrays and qRT-PCR showed that miR-143 was frequently downregulated in 87.5% (35 of 40) of colorectal carcinoma tissues compared with their adjacent non-cancerous colonic tissues. Using in silico predictions, DNA methyltranferase 3A (DNMT3A) was defined as a potential target of miR-143. Restoration of the miR-143 expression in colon cell lines decreased tumour cell growth and soft-agar colony formation, and downregulated the DNMT3A expression in both mRNA and protein levels. DNMT3A was shown to be a direct target of miR-143 by luciferase reporter assay. Furthermore, the miR-143 expression was observed to be inversely correlated with DNMT3A mRNA and protein expression in CRC tissues.
Our findings suggest that miR-143 regulates DNMT3A in CRC. These findings elucidated a tumour-suppressive role of miR-143 in the epigenetic aberration of CRC, providing a potential development of miRNA-based targeted approaches for CRC therapy.
British Journal of Cancer 08/2009; 101(4):699-706. · 5.04 Impact Factor
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Gastroenterology. 01/2009; 136(5):A165-A165.
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Cancer Research. 01/2009; 69(24):695S-695S.
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ABSTRACT: Acquisition of drug resistance is one of the main obstacles encountered in cancer chemotherapy. Overexpression of multi-drug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene and its protein product P-glycoprotein, accompanied with a decrease in doxorubicin accumulation level, was observed in doxorubicin-resistant R-HepG2 cells, a subline derived by selection of human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells with doxorubicin. In addition, Northern-blot analysis revealed an eight fold upregulation of the imprinted H19 mRNA in R-HepG2 cells. H19 knockdown by transfection with antisense H19 oligonucleotides suppressed the MDR1/P-glycoprotein expression, increased the cellular doxorubicin accumulation level and sensitized doxorubicin toxicity in both HepG2 parent cells and R-HepG2 cells. Results from methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that the MDR1 gene promoter was hypomethylated in R-HepG2 cells. Antisense H19 oligonucleotides transfection induced a marked increase in the percentage of MDR1 promoter methylation and decrease in MDR1 expression in R-HepG2 cells. Thus, the H19 gene is believed to induce P-glycoprotein expression and MDR1-associated drug resistance at least in liver cancer cells through regulation of MDR1 promoter methylation.
Oncogene 08/2007; 26(33):4877-81. · 6.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Hypoxia/reoxygenation insult can be found in many tissues, including heart, brain, and tumor. It is believed that cell death may be resulted after cells were subjected to chronic hypoxia or reoxygenation after chronic hypoxia. The molecular mechanism for reoxygenation induced cell death is so far not clear and will require further study, in particular, to be distinguished from the pathways associated only with chronic hypoxia. In this study, the cell death mechanism in human squamous carcinoma A431 cells after hypoxia/reoxygenation insult is examined. It is demonstrated that although caspase-9 and -3 were activated during both hypoxia and reoxygenation, only those caspases activated during reoxygenation were responsible for reoxygenation induced apoptosis. Activation of caspase-9 and -3 during reoxygenation is believed to be triggered by the ROS formation at the time of reoxygenation. Addition of catalase during reoxygenation was found to attenuate reoxygenation induced apoptosis and caspase activation.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 08/2006; 345(3):1131-7. · 2.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Development of radiation resistance is one of the major reasons that cancer cells do not respond to radiotherapy and the mechanism for resistance is still not clear. Two sublines of human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 cells were established from cells that survived two different irradiation regimes, 2 Gy for 10 days or 10 Gy for 2 days, respectively. Using MTT assay, the radiation conditioned cells were found to be more resistant to gamma-irradiation and have a greater extent of potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR) for radiation than the parent cells. By Western blot analysis, the radiation-conditioned cells were found to overexpress Raf-1 which is known to regulate the radiation resistance of cells. Inhibition of Raf-1 expression by antisense oligonucleotides increased the radiation sensitivity of the radiation-conditioned cells while inhibitors of Ras (L744,832), PI3K (LY294002) and p38 (SB203580) had no effect. Moreover, antisense Raf-1 oligonucleotides also decreased the radiation induced PLDR capacity of the radiation conditioned cells. It is therefore suggested that Raf-1 may induce radiation resistance through an increase in radiation induced PLDR capacity in Hep G2 cells.
Oncology Reports 01/2005; 12(6):1349-54. · 1.84 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Doxorubicin (DOX) is a common anticancer drug. The mechanisms of DOX induced apoptosis and the involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in apoptotic signaling were investigated in p53-null human osteosarcoma Saos-2 cells. Accumulation of pre-G1 phase cells and induction of DNA laddering, which are the hallmarks of apoptosis, were detected in cells at 48 h upon DOX treatment. Furthermore, DOX increased the intracellular hydrogen peroxide and superoxide levels, followed by mitochondrial membrane depolarization, cytochrome c release, caspase-3 activation, prior to DNA laddering in Saos-2 cells. In addition, DOX treatment also upregulated Bax and downregulated Bcl-2 levels in the cells. The role of ROS in DOX induced cell death was confirmed by the suppression effect of catalase on DOX induced ROS formation, mitochondrial cytochrome c release, procaspase-3 cleavage, and apoptosis in Saos-2 cells. The catalase treatment however only suppressed DOX induced Bax upregulation but had no effect on Bcl-2 downregulation. Results from the present study suggested that ROS might act as the signal molecules for DOX induced cell death and the process is still functional even in the absence of p53.
Life Sciences 10/2003; 73(16):2047-58. · 2.53 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Hypoxia/reoxygenation insult can be found in many tissues, including heart, brain, and tumor. It is believed that cell death may be resulted after cells were subjected to chronic hypoxia or reoxygenation after chronic hypoxia. The molecular mechanism for reoxygenation induced cell death is so far not clear and will require further study, in particular, to be distinguished from the pathways associated only with chronic hypoxia. In this study, the cell death mechanism in human squamous carcinoma A431 cells after hypoxia/reoxygenation insult is examined. It is demonstrated that although caspase-9 and -3 were activated during both hypoxia and reoxygenation, only those caspases activated during reoxygenation were responsible for reoxygenation induced apoptosis. Activation of caspase-9 and -3 during reoxygenation is believed to be triggered by the ROS formation at the time of reoxygenation. Addition of catalase during reoxygenation was found to attenuate reoxygenation induced apoptosis and caspase activation.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.